Portugal: They found a huge sauropod dinosaur fossil about 150 million years old.

Portuguese paleontologists and the Spaniards dug up in early August in the garden of a house in the center of Portugal a fossilized dinosaur skeleton that could be large sauropod discovered in Europe.

“This is one of the largest specimens known at the European level, and possibly the world,” paleontologist Elisabeth Malafaia of Dom Luis University Institute told AFP on Monday. University of Lisbon.

Between the multitude vertebrae D ribs Found dating back to the Jurassic period about 150 million years ago, the researchers found traces of a rib about three meters long, he said.

The first discovery of these fossils It was in 2017 when a Pombal resident was drilling into the ground to build an extension to his property.

In early August, a team of researchers unearthed the remains of a dinosaur to conduct in-depth studies. fossils.

Further excavations may be carried out at the site and in the area in the coming months.

What is known about this species?

sauropods were herbivorous and quadrupedal dinosaurs, recognizable by its long neck. They could reach 12 meters in height and 25 meters in length.

fossils discovered in Pombal would have belonged animal families brachiosaurids who lived in the Upper Jurassic.

The fact that these skeletal remains were found together, in the “original” position they were in at the time animal was alive, it’s “relatively rare,” Malafaya said.

AFP